Storing data and associated metadata in a dispersed storage network

ABSTRACT

A dispersed storage (DS) processing unit includes a processing module generating metadata for a data object. The DS processing unit further includes a partitioner to partition the data object to produce a plurality of data segments. The DS processing unit further includes a first dispersed storage error encoder encoding the metadata and at least a first data segment using first dispersal parameters to produce a set of encoded metadata slices with a set of first data segment encoded data slices. The DS processing unit further includes a second dispersed storage error encoding a plurality of additional data segments, not including the first data segment, using second dispersal parameters to produce a plurality of additional sets of encoded data slices. The DS processing unit further includes a grouping selector facilitating storage of the set of metadata slices, the first set of encoded data slices and the plurality of additional sets of encoded data slices in a storage set.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present U.S. Utility Patent Application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 15/219,741, entitled “STORING DATA AND ASSOCIATED METADATA IN A DISPERSED STORAGE NETWORK,” filed Jul. 26, 2016, which claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/199,816, entitled “STORING DATA AND ASSOCIATED METADATA IN A DISPERSED STORAGE NETWORK,” filed Jul. 31, 2015, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made part of the present U.S. Utility Patent Application for all purposes.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to computer networks and more particularly to dispersing error encoded data.

Description of Related Art

Computing devices are known to communicate data, process data, and/or store data. Such computing devices range from wireless smart phones, laptops, tablets, personal computers (PC), work stations, and video game devices, to data centers that support millions of web searches, stock trades, or on-line purchases every day. In general, a computing device includes a central processing unit (CPU), a memory system, user input/output interfaces, peripheral device interfaces, and an interconnecting bus structure.

As is further known, a computer may effectively extend its CPU by using “cloud computing” to perform one or more computing functions (e.g., a service, an application, an algorithm, an arithmetic logic function, etc.) on behalf of the computer. Further, for large services, applications, and/or functions, cloud computing may be performed by multiple cloud computing resources in a distributed manner to improve the response time for completion of the service, application, and/or function. For example, Hadoop is an open source software framework that supports distributed applications enabling application execution by thousands of computers.

In addition to cloud computing, a computer may use “cloud storage” as part of its memory system. As is known, cloud storage enables a user, via its computer, to store files, applications, etc. on an Internet storage system. The Internet storage system may include a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) system and/or a dispersed storage system that uses an error correction scheme to encode data for storage.

Large distributed storage sets may incur delay when retrieving, for example video. Reducing these delays can improve immediacy of stored data access and subsequent interaction with the retrieved data (e.g., playback of the video).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a dispersed or distributed storage network (DSN) in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computing core in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an example of dispersed storage error encoding of data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a generic example of an error encoding function in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a specific example of an error encoding function in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a slice name of an encoded data slice (EDS) in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an example of dispersed storage error decoding of data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a generic example of an error decoding function in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of metadata dispersed storage in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of metadata dispersed storage in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 9B is a flowchart illustrating an example of metadata dispersed storage in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a dispersed, or distributed, storage network (DSN) 10 that includes a plurality of computing devices 12-16, a managing unit 18, an integrity processing unit 20, and a DSN memory 22. The components of the DSN 10 are coupled to a network 24, which may include one or more wireless and/or wire lined communication systems; one or more non-public intranet systems and/or public internet systems; and/or one or more local area networks (LAN) and/or wide area networks (WAN).

The DSN memory 22 includes a plurality of storage units 36 that may be located at geographically different sites (e.g., one in Chicago, one in Milwaukee, etc.), at a common site, or a combination thereof. For example, if the DSN memory 22 includes eight storage units 36, each storage unit is located at a different site. As another example, if the DSN memory 22 includes eight storage units 36, all eight storage units are located at the same site. As yet another example, if the DSN memory 22 includes eight storage units 36, a first pair of storage units are at a first common site, a second pair of storage units are at a second common site, a third pair of storage units are at a third common site, and a fourth pair of storage units are at a fourth common site. Note that a DSN memory 22 may include more or less than eight storage units 36. Further note that each storage unit 36 includes a computing core (as shown in FIG. 2, or components thereof) and a plurality of memory devices for storing dispersed error encoded data.

Each of the computing devices 12-16, the managing unit 18, and the integrity processing unit 20 include a computing core 26, which includes network interfaces 30-33. Computing devices 12-16 may each be a portable computing device and/or a fixed computing device. A portable computing device may be a social networking device, a gaming device, a cell phone, a smart phone, a digital assistant, a digital music player, a digital video player, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a tablet, a video game controller, and/or any other portable device that includes a computing core. A fixed computing device may be a computer (PC), a computer server, a cable set-top box, a satellite receiver, a television set, a printer, a fax machine, home entertainment equipment, a video game console, and/or any type of home or office computing equipment. Note that each of the managing unit 18 and the integrity processing unit 20 may be separate computing devices, may be a common computing device, and/or may be integrated into one or more of the computing devices 12-16 and/or into one or more of the storage units 36.

Each interface 30, 32, and 33 includes software and hardware to support one or more communication links via the network 24 indirectly and/or directly. For example, interface 30 supports a communication link (e.g., wired, wireless, direct, via a LAN, via the network 24, etc.) between computing devices 14 and 16. As another example, interface 32 supports communication links (e.g., a wired connection, a wireless connection, a LAN connection, and/or any other type of connection to/from the network 24) between computing devices 12 & 16 and the DSN memory 22. As yet another example, interface 33 supports a communication link for each of the managing unit 18 and the integrity processing unit 20 to the network 24.

Computing devices 12 and 16 include a dispersed storage (DS) client module 34, which enables the computing device to dispersed storage error encode and decode data as subsequently described with reference to one or more of FIGS. 3-8. In this example embodiment, computing device 16 functions as a dispersed storage processing agent for computing device 14. In this role, computing device 16 dispersed storage error encodes and decodes data on behalf of computing device 14. With the use of dispersed storage error encoding and decoding, the DSN 10 is tolerant of a significant number of storage unit failures (the number of failures is based on parameters of the dispersed storage error encoding function) without loss of data and without the need for a redundant or backup copies of the data. Further, the DSN 10 stores data for an indefinite period of time without data loss and in a secure manner (e.g., the system is very resistant to unauthorized attempts at accessing the data).

In operation, the managing unit 18 performs DS management services. For example, the managing unit 18 establishes distributed data storage parameters (e.g., vault creation, distributed storage parameters, security parameters, billing information, user profile information, etc.) for computing devices 12-14 individually or as part of a group of user devices. As a specific example, the managing unit 18 coordinates creation of a vault (e.g., a virtual memory block associated with a portion of an overall namespace of the DSN) within the DSTN memory 22 for a user device, a group of devices, or for public access and establishes per vault dispersed storage (DS) error encoding parameters for a vault. The managing unit 18 facilitates storage of DS error encoding parameters for each vault by updating registry information of the DSN 10, where the registry information may be stored in the DSN memory 22, a computing device 12-16, the managing unit 18, and/or the integrity processing unit 20.

The DSN managing unit 18 creates and stores user profile information (e.g., an access control list (ACL)) in local memory and/or within memory of the DSN memory 22. The user profile information includes authentication information, permissions, and/or the security parameters. The security parameters may include encryption/decryption scheme, one or more encryption keys, key generation scheme, and/or data encoding/decoding scheme.

The DSN managing unit 18 creates billing information for a particular user, a user group, a vault access, public vault access, etc. For instance, the DSTN managing unit 18 tracks the number of times a user accesses a non-public vault and/or public vaults, which can be used to generate per-access billing information. In another instance, the DSTN managing unit 18 tracks the amount of data stored and/or retrieved by a user device and/or a user group, which can be used to generate per-data-amount billing information.

As another example, the managing unit 18 performs network operations, network administration, and/or network maintenance. Network operations includes authenticating user data allocation requests (e.g., read and/or write requests), managing creation of vaults, establishing authentication credentials for user devices, adding/deleting components (e.g., user devices, storage units, and/or computing devices with a DS client module 34) to/from the DSN 10, and/or establishing authentication credentials for the storage units 36. Network administration includes monitoring devices and/or units for failures, maintaining vault information, determining device and/or unit activation status, determining device and/or unit loading, and/or determining any other system level operation that affects the performance level of the DSN 10. Network maintenance includes facilitating replacing, upgrading, repairing, and/or expanding a device and/or unit of the DSN 10.

The integrity processing unit 20 performs rebuilding of ‘bad’ or missing encoded data slices. At a high level, the integrity processing unit 20 performs rebuilding by periodically attempting to retrieve/list encoded data slices, and/or slice names of the encoded data slices, from the DSN memory 22. For retrieved encoded slices, they are checked for errors due to data corruption, outdated version, etc. If a slice includes an error, it is flagged as a ‘bad’ slice. For encoded data slices that were not received and/or not listed, they are flagged as missing slices. Bad and/or missing slices are subsequently rebuilt using other retrieved encoded data slices that are deemed to be good slices to produce rebuilt slices. The rebuilt slices are stored in the DSTN memory 22.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computing core 26 that includes a processing module 50, a memory controller 52, main memory 54, a video graphics processing unit 55, an input/output (IO) controller 56, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) interface 58, an IO interface module 60, at least one IO device interface module 62, a read only memory (ROM) basic input output system (BIOS) 64, and one or more memory interface modules. The one or more memory interface module(s) includes one or more of a universal serial bus (USB) interface module 66, a host bus adapter (HBA) interface module 68, a network interface module 70, a flash interface module 72, a hard drive interface module 74, and a DSN interface module 76.

The DSN interface module 76 functions to mimic a conventional operating system (OS) file system interface (e.g., network file system (NFS), flash file system (FFS), disk file system (DFS), file transfer protocol (FTP), web-based distributed authoring and versioning (WebDAV), etc.) and/or a block memory interface (e.g., small computer system interface (SCSI), internet small computer system interface (iSCSI), etc.). The DSN interface module 76 and/or the network interface module 70 may function as one or more of the interface 30-33 of FIG. 1. Note that the IO device interface module 62 and/or the memory interface modules 66-76 may be collectively or individually referred to as IO ports.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an example of dispersed storage error encoding of data. When a computing device 12 or 16 has data to store it disperse storage error encodes the data in accordance with a dispersed storage error encoding process based on dispersed storage error encoding parameters. The dispersed storage error encoding parameters include an encoding function (e.g., information dispersal algorithm, Reed-Solomon, Cauchy Reed-Solomon, systematic encoding, non-systematic encoding, on-line codes, etc.), a data segmenting protocol (e.g., data segment size, fixed, variable, etc.), and per data segment encoding values. The per data segment encoding values include a total, or pillar width, number (T) of encoded data slices per encoding of a data segment i.e., in a set of encoded data slices); a decode threshold number (D) of encoded data slices of a set of encoded data slices that are needed to recover the data segment; a read threshold number (R) of encoded data slices to indicate a number of encoded data slices per set to be read from storage for decoding of the data segment; and/or a write threshold number (W) to indicate a number of encoded data slices per set that must be accurately stored before the encoded data segment is deemed to have been properly stored. The dispersed storage error encoding parameters may further include slicing information (e.g., the number of encoded data slices that will be created for each data segment) and/or slice security information (e.g., per encoded data slice encryption, compression, integrity checksum, etc.).

In the present example, Cauchy Reed-Solomon has been selected as the encoding function (a generic example is shown in FIG. 4 and a specific example is shown in FIG. 5); the data segmenting protocol is to divide the data object into fixed sized data segments; and the per data segment encoding values include: a pillar width of 5, a decode threshold of 3, a read threshold of 4, and a write threshold of 4. In accordance with the data segmenting protocol, the computing device 12 or 16 divides the data (e.g., a file (e.g., text, video, audio, etc.), a data object, or other data arrangement) into a plurality of fixed sized data segments (e.g., 1 through Y of a fixed size in range of Kilo-bytes to Tera-bytes or more). The number of data segments created is dependent of the size of the data and the data segmenting protocol.

The computing device 12 or 16 then disperse storage error encodes a data segment using the selected encoding function (e.g., Cauchy Reed-Solomon) to produce a set of encoded data slices. FIG. 4 illustrates a generic Cauchy Reed-Solomon encoding function, which includes an encoding matrix (EM), a data matrix (DM), and a coded matrix (CM). The size of the encoding matrix (EM) is dependent on the pillar width number (T) and the decode threshold number (D) of selected per data segment encoding values. To produce the data matrix (DM), the data segment is divided into a plurality of data blocks and the data blocks are arranged into D number of rows with Z data blocks per row. Note that Z is a function of the number of data blocks created from the data segment and the decode threshold number (D). The coded matrix is produced by matrix multiplying the data matrix by the encoding matrix.

FIG. 5 illustrates a specific example of Cauchy Reed-Solomon encoding with a pillar number (T) of five and decode threshold number of three. In this example, a first data segment is divided into twelve data blocks (D1-D12). The coded matrix includes five rows of coded data blocks, where the first row of X11-X14 corresponds to a first encoded data slice (EDS 1_1), the second row of X21-X24 corresponds to a second encoded data slice (EDS 2_1), the third row of X31-X34 corresponds to a third encoded data slice (EDS 3_1), the fourth row of X41-X44 corresponds to a fourth encoded data slice (EDS 4_1), and the fifth row of X51-X54 corresponds to a fifth encoded data slice (EDS 5_1). Note that the second number of the EDS designation corresponds to the data segment number.

Returning to the discussion of FIG. 3, the computing device also creates a slice name (SN) for each encoded data slice (EDS) in the set of encoded data slices. A typical format for a slice name 60 is shown in FIG. 6. As shown, the slice name (SN) 60 includes a pillar number of the encoded data slice (e.g., one of 1-T), a data segment number (e.g., one of 1-Y), a vault identifier (ID), a data object identifier (ID), and may further include revision level information of the encoded data slices. The slice name functions as, at least part of, a DSN address for the encoded data slice for storage and retrieval from the DSN memory 22.

As a result of encoding, the computing device 12 or 16 produces a plurality of sets of encoded data slices, which are provided with their respective slice names to the storage units for storage. As shown, the first set of encoded data slices includes EDS 1_1 through EDS 5_1 and the first set of slice names includes SN 1_1 through SN 5_1 and the last set of encoded data slices includes EDS 1_Y through EDS 5_Y and the last set of slice names includes SN 1_Y through SN 5_Y.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an example of dispersed storage error decoding of a data object that was dispersed storage error encoded and stored in the example of FIG. 4. In this example, the computing device 12 or 16 retrieves from the storage units at least the decode threshold number of encoded data slices per data segment. As a specific example, the computing device retrieves a read threshold number of encoded data slices.

To recover a data segment from a decode threshold number of encoded data slices, the computing device uses a decoding function as shown in FIG. 8. As shown, the decoding function is essentially an inverse of the encoding function of FIG. 4. The coded matrix includes a decode threshold number of rows (e.g., three in this example) and the decoding matrix in an inversion of the encoding matrix that includes the corresponding rows of the coded matrix. For example, if the coded matrix includes rows 1, 2, and 4, the encoding matrix is reduced to rows 1, 2, and 4, and then inverted to produce the decoding matrix.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of metadata dispersed storage. Embedded Objects are metadata objects which have the entirety of the content of the object stored together within metadata in the same segment (data source). They save one RTT (round trip time—time for a small packet to travel from client to server and back; also known as response time) and one IO (input/output), and hence are especially useful for storing small objects. Traditionally, embedded objects have been reserved only for small objects, since all metadata was stored in a deterministic location in generation 0. Since a DAP (distributed agreement protocol) adds expandability to generation 0, there is no longer a reason to not store all objects as embedded objects, and so all objects, regardless of size, may be stored with the metadata object containing some part of the object data. This can amortize the time to first byte (TTFB), since some fixed quantity of data (e.g., 250 KB) of the object may be contained in the metadata itself. Further, by making the amount of data kept in the metadata header small, it further reduces the RTT for very small objects (e.g., not having to read an entire 4 MB segment before accessing the first byte).

To further maximize IO capability, the first segment may not use the same IDA (information dispersal algorithm) threshold, but may use a reduced threshold, or even a threshold of “1”, such that reads of small objects or of metadata consume only one IOP (Input/Output Operations Per Second) rather than an IDA (information dispersal algorithms) threshold number of IOPs across the DSN memory. This strategy thereby minimizes TTFB for small objects because an embedded metadata segment is smaller, it minimizes TTFB by not requiring two round trips to access the content for larger objects, and increases TOPS for accessing single-segment small objects by using a reduced threshold.

FIG. 9 includes the distributed storage and task (DST) processing unit 16 of FIG. 1, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and at least two storage sets 1-2. Alternatively, the DSN may include more than two storage sets. The DST processing unit 16 includes a processing module 84, a dispersed storage (DS) error encoding 1, a grouping selector 114, a DS error encoding 2, and a data partition 110. Each storage set includes a set of DST execution (EX) units 1-n. Each DST execution unit may be implemented utilizing the DST execution unit 36 of FIG. 1. Hereafter, each DST execution unit may be interchangeably referred to as a storage unit and a storage set may be interchangeably referred to as a set of storage units. The DSN functions to store data and metadata associated with the data in at least one storage set of the at least two storage sets 1-2.

An example of operation of the storing of the data and the metadata, the processing module 84 generates metadata 1 (e.g., a data object size, access rights, a data type indicator, etc.) for a received data object 1.

The DS error encoding 1 dispersed storage error encodes the metadata 1 utilizing first dispersal parameters (e.g., a first information dispersal algorithm (IDA) width, a first decode threshold number, etc.) to produce a set of metadata slices 1-n. For example, the DS error encoding 1 dispersed storage error encodes the metadata 1 to produce n identical copies (e.g., metadata slices 1-n) of the metadata 1 when the IDA width is 1 and the decode threshold number is 1.

The data partitioning 110 partitions the received data object 1 to produce data segments 1-S in accordance with a data segmentation approach (e.g., text and size, segment size ramping up, segment size ramping down), where a first segment includes fewer bytes than remaining segments (to keep the metadata slices small after the merge below).

For each remaining data segment, the DS error encoding 2 dispersed storage error encodes the remaining data segments to produce a set encoded data slices (DSLC) 1-n utilizing second parameters (e.g., 16/10 encoding). That is, the DS error encoding 2 dispersed storage error encodes each data segment to produce a set of encoded data slices 1-n (DSLC 1-n), of a plurality of S sets of encoded data slices, utilizing second dispersal parameters (e.g., IDA width of 16 and a decode threshold number of 10).

The grouping selector 114 facilitates storage of the set of metadata slices and the remaining sets of encoded data slices in the storage set. The grouping selector 114 obtains ranked scoring information 1 from a decentralized agreement module (not shown) for each of the at least two storage sets 1-2 based on an identifier (e.g., a source name) of the data object 1. For example, for each storage set, the decentralized agreement module performs a distributed agreement protocol function on the identifier of the data object 1 using the identifier of the storage set and a weighting factor associated with the storage set to produce a score of a plurality of scores of the ranked scoring information 1.

Having obtained the rank scoring information 1, the grouping selector 114 selects a storage set of the at least two storage sets 1-2 based on the rank scoring information 1. For example, the grouping selector 114 selects a storage set associated with a highest score the plurality of scores. For instance, the grouping selector 114 selects the storage set 1 when the storage set 1 is associated with the highest score of the plurality of scores.

Having selected the storage set, the grouping selector 114 facilitates storage of the set of metadata slices and the plurality of sets of encoded data slices in the selected storage set. For example, the grouping selector 114 sends, via the network 24, the set of metadata slices 1-n (MSLC1-n) to the DST execution units 1-n for storage, sends, via the network 24, a first set of encoded data slices (e.g., DSLC1-1, DSCL 2-1, etc. through DSLC n−1) to the DST execution units 1-n for storage, sends, via the network 24, a second set of encoded data slices (e.g., DSLC1-2, DSCL 2-2, etc. through DSLC n−2) to the DST execution units 1-n for storage, etc.

As shown in FIG. 9A, subsequent accessing of any one of the metadata slices reproduces the metadata and at least a first portion of the data object. Having the metadata and first portion of the data can be very valuable, especially when the data is video and the 1st portion can start an output video stream while the rest is read from the DSN. Therefore, instead of typical 16/10 coding this embodiment uses 1/1 coding on the metadata/slice 1 (encoder & decoder #1) so the video streaming output can start as soon as a first metadata slice is received. Retrieval is performed in reverse of operations and steps as shown in FIGS. 9 and 9B.

FIG. 9B is a flowchart illustrating an example of metadata dispersed storage. In particular, a method is presented for use in conjunction with one or more functions and features described in conjunction with FIGS. 1-9A, and also FIG. 9B. The method begins at step 900 where a processing module (e.g., of a distributed storage and task (DST) processing unit) of a computing device of one or more computing devices of a dispersed storage network generates metadata for a data object. The generating includes analyzing one or more of the data object and a data object identifier of the data object to produce the metadata. The method continues at the step 902 where the processing module dispersed storage error encodes the metadata to produce a set of metadata slices. For example, the processing module dispersed storage error encodes the metadata utilizing first dispersal parameters to produce the set of metadata slices.

The method continues at step 904, where the processing module partitions the data to produce a plurality of data segments. For the example, the processing module partitions the data in accordance with a data segmentation approach to produce the plurality of data segments. The method continues at step 906 where the processing module dispersed storage error encodes the plurality of data segments to produce a plurality of sets of encoded data slices. For example, the processing module dispersed storage error encodes each data segment utilizing second dispersal parameters to produce a set of encoded data slices of the plurality of sets of encoded data slices.

The method continues at step 908 where the processing module applies a distributed agreement protocol function to the data object identifier for the data object to produce ranked scoring information with regards to a plurality of storage sets. For example, for each storage set, the processing module performs the distributed agreement protocol function on the data object identifier using an identifier of the storage set and a weighting factor associated with the storage set to produce a score of a plurality of scores of the rank scoring information.

The method continues at step 910 where the processing module selects a storage set of the plurality of storage sets based on the ranked scoring information. For example, the processing module identifies a storage set associated with a highest score of the plurality of scores. The method continues at step 912 where the processing module facilitates storage of the set of metadata slices and the plurality of sets of encoded data slices in the selected storage set. For example, for each storage unit of the selected storage set, the processing module issues a write slice request to the storage unit, where the write slice request includes and associated metadata slice of the set of metadata slices and a plurality of associated encoded data slices of each set of encoded data slices (e.g., of a common pillar associated with the storage unit).

The method described above in conjunction with the computing device and the storage units can alternatively be performed by other modules of the dispersed storage network or by other devices. For example, any combination of a first module, a second module, a third module, a fourth module, etc. of the computing device and the storage units may perform the method described above. In addition, at least one memory section (e.g., a first memory section, a second memory section, a third memory section, a fourth memory section, a fifth memory section, a sixth memory section, etc. of a non-transitory computer readable storage medium) that stores operational instructions can, when executed by one or more processing modules of one or more computing devices and/or by the storage units of the dispersed storage network (DSN), cause the one or more computing devices and/or the storage units to perform any or all of the method steps described above.

It is noted that terminologies as may be used herein such as bit stream, stream, signal sequence, etc. (or their equivalents) have been used interchangeably to describe digital information whose content corresponds to any of a number of desired types (e.g., data, video, speech, audio, etc. any of which may generally be referred to as ‘data’).

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately” provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding term and/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted tolerance ranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to, but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit process variations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermal noise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a few percent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, the term(s) “configured to”, “operably coupled to”, “coupled to”, and/or “coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/or indirect coupling between items via an intervening item (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, an element, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for an example of indirect coupling, the intervening item does not modify the information of a signal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As may further be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled to another element by inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”. As may even further be used herein, the term “configured to”, “operable to”, “coupled to”, or “operably coupled to” indicates that an item includes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s), etc., to perform, when activated, one or more its corresponding functions and may further include inferred coupling to one or more other items. As may still further be used herein, the term “associated with”, includes direct and/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item being embedded within another item.

As may be used herein, the term “compares favorably”, indicates that a comparison between two or more items, signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, when the desired relationship is that signal 1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, a favorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude of signal 1 is greater than that of signal 2 or when the magnitude of signal 2 is less than that of signal 1. As may be used herein, the term “compares unfavorably”, indicates that a comparison between two or more items, signals, etc., fails to provide the desired relationship.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module”, “processing circuit”, “processor”, and/or “processing unit” may be a single processing device or a plurality of processing devices. Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit may be, or further include, memory and/or an integrated memory element, which may be a single memory device, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of another processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. Note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes more than one processing device, the processing devices may be centrally located (e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless bus structure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing via indirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network). Further note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit implements one or more of its functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing the corresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, or external to, the circuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further note that, the memory element may store, and the processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit executes, hard coded and/or operational instructions corresponding to at least some of the steps and/or functions illustrated in one or more of the Figures. Such a memory device or memory element can be included in an article of manufacture.

One or more embodiments have been described above with the aid of method steps illustrating the performance of specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functional building blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined herein for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships are appropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claims. Further, the boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries could be defined as long as the certain significant functions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also have been arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certain significant functionality.

To the extent used, the flow diagram block boundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and still perform the certain significant functionality. Such alternate definitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claims. One of average skill in the art will also recognize that the functional building blocks, and other illustrative blocks, modules and components herein, can be implemented as illustrated or by discrete components, application specific integrated circuits, processors executing appropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

In addition, a flow diagram may include a “start” and/or “continue” indication. The “start” and “continue” indications reflect that the steps presented can optionally be incorporated in or otherwise used in conjunction with other routines. In this context, “start” indicates the beginning of the first step presented and may be preceded by other activities not specifically shown. Further, the “continue” indication reflects that the steps presented may be performed multiple times and/or may be succeeded by other activities not specifically shown. Further, while a flow diagram indicates a particular ordering of steps, other orderings are likewise possible provided that the principles of causality are maintained.

The one or more embodiments are used herein to illustrate one or more aspects, one or more features, one or more concepts, and/or one or more examples. A physical embodiment of an apparatus, an article of manufacture, a machine, and/or of a process may include one or more of the aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc. described with reference to one or more of the embodiments discussed herein. Further, from figure to figure, the embodiments may incorporate the same or similarly named functions, steps, modules, etc. that may use the same or different reference numbers and, as such, the functions, steps, modules, etc. may be the same or similar functions, steps, modules, etc. or different ones.

Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/or between elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein may be analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and single-ended or differential. For instance, if a signal path is shown as a single-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path. Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential path, it also represents a single-ended signal path. While one or more particular architectures are described herein, other architectures can likewise be implemented that use one or more data buses not expressly shown, direct connectivity between elements, and/or indirect coupling between other elements as recognized by one of average skill in the art.

The term “module” is used in the description of one or more of the embodiments. A module implements one or more functions via a device such as a processor or other processing device or other hardware that may include or operate in association with a memory that stores operational instructions. A module may operate independently and/or in conjunction with software and/or firmware. As also used herein, a module may contain one or more sub-modules, each of which may be one or more modules.

As may further be used herein, a computer readable memory includes one or more memory elements. A memory element may be a separate memory device, multiple memory devices, or a set of memory locations within a memory device. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. The memory device may be in a form a solid state memory, a hard drive memory, cloud memory, thumb drive, server memory, computing device memory, and/or other physical medium for storing digital information.

While particular combinations of various functions and features of the one or more embodiments have been expressly described herein, other combinations of these features and functions are likewise possible. The present disclosure is not limited by the particular examples disclosed herein and expressly incorporates these other combinations. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A dispersed storage processing unit comprises: a processing module generating metadata for a data object; a first dispersed storage error encoder disperse storage error encoding the metadata to produce a set of metadata slices, wherein the first disperse storage error encoder utilizes first dispersal parameters to store the metadata, the first dispersal parameters including a decode threshold of 1; a data partitioner partitioning the data object to produce a plurality of data segments; the first disperse storage error encoder encoding at least a first data segment of the plurality of data segments to produce a first set of encoded data slices, wherein the first disperse storage error encoder utilizes the first dispersal parameters of the metadata, the first dispersal parameters including a decode threshold of 1; a second disperse storage error encoder encoding additional data segments of the plurality of data segments to produce a plurality of sets of encoded data slices, wherein the additional data segments do not include the at least a first data segment and wherein the second disperse storage error encoder utilizes second dispersal parameters, the second dispersal parameters different from the first dispersal parameters and including a decode threshold greater than 1; and a grouping selector facilitating storage of the set of metadata slices, the first set of encoded data slices and the plurality of sets of encoded data slices in one or more storage units of a dispersed storage network (DSN); and wherein subsequent accessing of the metadata slices reproduces the metadata and the first data segment of the data object, making the first data segment of the data object available for use by one or more computing devices while continuing to retrieve the additional data segments from the DSN.
 2. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 1, wherein the first dispersed storage error encoder utilizes the first dispersal parameters to store a copy of the metadata in each storage unit.
 3. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 1, wherein the partitioning is in accordance with a data segmentation approach.
 4. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 3, wherein the data segmentation approach includes any of: fixed size, segment size ramping-up, or segment size ramping-down.
 5. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 1 further comprises, for each storage unit of a selected storage set, issuing a write slice request to the storage unit, where the write slice request includes an associated metadata slice of the set of metadata slices and a plurality of associated encoded data slices of each set of encoded data slices.
 6. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 5, wherein the plurality of associated encoded data slices of each set of encoded data slices includes a common pillar.
 7. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 6, wherein the common pillar includes a set of storage units equal in number to a width of the common pillar.
 8. A dispersed storage processing unit of a dispersed storage network (DSN), the dispersed storage processing unit comprises: an interface; a local memory; and a processing module operably coupled to the interface and the local memory to generate metadata for a data object; a first dispersed storage error encoder to encode the metadata to produce a set of metadata slices, wherein the first disperse storage error encoder utilizes first dispersal parameters to store metadata, the first dispersal parameters including a decode threshold of 1; a data partitioner to partition the data object to produce a plurality of data segments; the first dispersed storage error encoder encoding at least a first data segment of the plurality of data segments to produce a first set of encoded data slices, wherein the first dispersed storage error encoder utilizes the first dispersal parameters of the metadata, the first dispersal parameters including a decode threshold of 1; second dispersed storage error encoder encoding additional data segments of the plurality of data segments to produce a plurality of sets of encoded data slices, wherein the additional data segments do not include the at least a first data segment and wherein the second dispersed storage error encoder utilizes second dispersal parameters, the second dispersal parameters different from the first dispersal parameters and including a decode threshold greater than 1; and a grouping selector facilitating storage of the set of metadata slices, the first set of encoded data slices and the plurality of sets of encoded data slices in one or more storage units of the DSN; and wherein subsequent accessing of the set of metadata slices reproduces the metadata and the first data segment of the data object, making the first data segment of the data object available for use by one or more computing devices while continuing to retrieve the additional data segments from the DSN.
 9. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 8, wherein the first dispersed storage error encoder utilizes the first dispersal parameters to store a copy of the metadata in each storage unit.
 10. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 8, wherein the partitioning the data object is in accordance with a data segmentation approach.
 11. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 10, wherein the data segmentation approach includes any of: fixed size, segment size ramping-up, or segment size ramping-down.
 12. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 8 further comprises, for each storage unit of a selected storage set, issuing a write slice request to the storage unit, where the write slice request includes an associated metadata slice of the set of metadata slices and a plurality of associated encoded data slices of each set of encoded data slices.
 13. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 12, wherein the plurality of associated encoded data slices of each set of encoded data slices includes a common pillar.
 14. The dispersed storage processing unit of claim 13, wherein the common pillar includes a set of storage units equal in number to a width of the common pillar.
 15. A storage unit in a dispersed storage network (DSN) comprises: a grouping de-selector facilitating retrieval of a set of encoded metadata slices and a plurality of sets of encoded data slices from one or more storage units of the DSN; a first dispersed storage error decoder decoding the set of encoded metadata slices to produce metadata, wherein the first dispersed storage error decoder utilizes first dispersal parameters including a decode threshold of 1; the first dispersed storage error decoder further decoding at least a first set of encoded data slices to produce at least a first data segment of a plurality of data segments, wherein the first disperse storage error decoder utilizes the first dispersal parameters of the set of encoded metadata slices including a decode threshold of 1; a second dispersed storage error decoder decoding additional ones of the plurality of sets of encoded data slices data segments to produce a plurality of additional data segments, wherein the additional data segments do not include the at least a first data segment and wherein the second disperse storage error decoder utilizes second dispersal parameters, the second dispersal parameters different from the first dispersal parameters and including a decode threshold greater than 1; and a data de-partitioner combining the at least a first data segment with the plurality of additional data segments to produce a data object; and wherein accessing of the set of encoded metadata slices reproduces the metadata and the first data segment of the data object, making the first data segment of the data object available for use by the one or more computing devices while continuing to retrieve the additional data segments from the DSN.
 16. The storage unit of claim 15, wherein the combining is in accordance with a data de-segmentation approach.
 17. The storage unit of claim 16, wherein the data de-segmentation approach includes any of: fixed size, segment size ramping-up, or segment size ramping-down.
 18. The storage unit of claim 17 further comprises, for each storage unit of a selected storage set, issuing a read slice request to the storage unit, where the read slice request includes an retrieving an associated metadata slice of the set of metadata slices and a plurality of associated encoded data slices of each set of encoded data slices.
 19. The storage unit of claim 18, wherein the plurality of associated encoded data slices of each set of encoded data slices includes a common pillar.
 20. The storage unit of claim 15, wherein the first dispersed storage error decoder utilizes the first dispersal parameters to retrieve a copy of the encoded metadata slices from each storage unit. 